Christmas Unwrapped
by rainwater tears
Summary: The long awaited sequel to Christmas Wrapping. Rory, Jess, Christmas, Stars Hollow. Oh the possibilities.
1. We'll be home for Christmas

Title: _Christmas Unwrapped_  
Author: Rainwater Tears (aka Elizabeth)  
Summary: The long awaited sequel to _Christmas Wrapping_. Rory, Jess, Christmas, Stars Hollow. Oh the possibilities.  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimers: If I owned "Gilmore Girls" then "Subway Stars" would have come true by now. It hasn't.  
Author's Note: Lee wanted a sequel. Lee rocks. Therefore, a sequel. Thanks to everyone who gave me positive feedback on "Christmas Wrapping." You all rock, too. Especially if you reviewed. (hint hint) (And more thanks to Lee for her beta and for the title. I apologize for any remaining typos. My typing skills greatly disintegrated in the month I was at camp.)  
  
Anything in italics is a flashback. This one isn't a one-parter. More to come.

* * *

**Christmas Unwrapped  
**_Chapter one: **We'll** be home for Christmas_

_The wind is blowing hard as she exits the apartment building, a light blue ski cap in one hand and a matching knit purse in the other. There's a brightly wrapped box tucked under her arm. It's not snowing, but the piles along the curb are still white enough to suggest that it has recently. She hails a cab, climbs in, and disappears slowly down the street.  
_  
The kitchen was still there when Rory and Jess resurfaced from their kiss. Jess was almost surprised by this, though he knew he shouldn't be. Kitchen's didn't disappear. He'd just forgotten the world existed for a second.  
  
"I need a shower," said Rory as she leaned back against the counter.  
  
"I thought you said you were clean and I was dirty."  
  
"Well, you were dirtier than me, but I still need a shower. Especially if we're gonna get in a car and drive to Stars Hollow. Cooped up BO is gross." To accentuate her point she did a weak rendition of the chicken dance, flapping her arms.  
  
"Go. Shower. I'll wait," he said with a smile.  
  
"Okay. There's coffee in the coffee pot and poptarts in the cabinet above the sink," she told him as she headed down the hall.  
  
Jess silently poured himself some coffee and went to sit down on the couch, grabbing the book he had been reading the night before off the bookshelf. The second the first sip of coffee hit his tongue he spit it across the room with a loud "Jesus, Rory!"  
  
"What?" She came running out of the bathroom and down the hall wearing snowflake pajama pants and a half unbottoned matching top.  
  
"Did you use any water when you made this coffee?"  
  
She winced. "Too strong?"

"I no longer have tastebuds."

"Sorry."

"I'm going to go make some normal coffee. Take your shower."

"Oh, but--"

"Don't worry, I'll set your sludge aside for later."

"Fine." She went back down the hall whistling "Grandma Got Run-over by a Reindeer," and he shook his head with a smile before heading back into the kitchenette.  
  
_The cab pulls up to a pale blue house in the suburbs. The snow here is a blinding white that the grungy cab has never seen before, and that the girl barely remembers. She pays the cabie and climbs out dragging the box behind her.  
_  
"We have to get a gift," Rory said as she climbed into the passenger seat of Jess's beat up car. It was nicer than the one he'd had as a teenager, but still not a work of art.  
  
He sighed. "You've got to be kidding me. What's going to be open on Christmas Day?"  
  
She thought for a second. "The movie theater?"

"You want to give your mom redvines for Christmas?"

"Well, she is a big fan of the redvine."

"Rory."

"What? It's true."

"Isn't the fact that we're gonna be there enough?"

"I guess." They drove in silence for awhile, except for the Christmas carols on the radio and Jess's accompanying whistle. Rory had never pictured him as the type to whistle along to a Christmas Carol, but then again, Jess was ever the enigma. The traffic wasn't too bad (most people were inside celebrating) but the snow made it slow going.  
  
_The girl stops at the door with her hand on the knob. Even from outside she can hear the bustle of holiday cheer. The house is full of loved ones. She takes her hand off the knob, choosing to knock instead, like any polite guest. She waits, staring at the gift in her hands.  
  
When the door swings open she is hit by a gust of warmth. She smiles and looks up, up, up. The box falls from her hands as her smile falls from her face. She faintly hears its porcelain contents shatter.  
  
"Dean."_  
  
The trip had been long, and when they finally drove past the "Welcome to Stars Hollow" sign they both breathed a sigh of thank-God-we're-here.  
  
The house looked exactly the same as the last time Rory had visited, full of warmth and life. As she and Jess trudged through the snow and headed up the porch steps she questioned her decision to come, but when the door swung open before she reached it she felt better.  
  
"Rory! You're here!" Lorelai pulled her into a hug right there on the porch, despite her lack of shoes or a coat.  
  
"Hi Mom," came the muffled response.  
  
Jess waited quietly while they had their mother/daughter moment, but when he got so cold that he could no longer feel his toes he interrupted with the suggestion of moving the party inside.  
  
"Spoil sport," Lorelai growled in a much friendlier tone than she'd ever used with him before, but they did head inside.  
  
The house hadn't changed much in ten years. There was a new couch, and the walls had been repainted a slightly darker shade of yellow, but other than that it was the same. While Lorelai and Rory hugged again Jess walked over to the mantel.  
  
This had always been his favorite part of the house, a row of pictures in mismatched frames that told the Gilore Girls life story. They changed periodically, the collection growing every year, bu the stars stayed the same. There was one picture of Rory that he particularly liked.  
  
It had clearly been taken her first day of Kindergarten, the index card around her neck and the pink plastic lunchbox in her hand gave that away. Lorelai had pulled her hair back into pigtails, but she had clearly dressed herself, as the red stockings and green dress did not match at all. The reason Jess loved the picture so much, though, was the big grin on her face.  
  
Not many people could smile the way Rory could, with such honesty and happiness. She didn't just smile with her mouth, she smiled with her whole body. Her eyes lit up, she stood up a little straighter, and she glowed with joy.  
  
Jess continued down the row of pictures, noticing additions (one or Rory's dad and step-mom, one of Lane and Dave), stopping every now and then to examine some of his favorites, and enjoying the familiarity of it all.  
  
The last picture on the mantel was also the biggest. The frame was silver with stars engraved on three sides and the date "May 30, 2006" on the last. The picture itself was of Lorelai and Luke, Lorelai in as untraditional a traditional wedding dress as possible (long white and sleeveless with a simple pink bow below the bust) and Luke in a suit. They were smiling at eachother, Luke laughing at something Lorelai had said, and clearly having a good time.  
  
Jess had not attended the wedding, although he had been invited. He had spent years avoiding Stars Hollow, only ever willing to see Luke if it meant Luke coming to New York, just for fear of seeing Rory. It was out of embarrassment more than anything else. He had, for once, opened up to her, and she had rejected him without a second thought. It took him years to get over that, and if it hadn't been for some bizarre chance of fate the night before he would still be hiding out in his tiny New York City apartment, eating a hastily assembled meal and watching the "Christmas Story" marathon.  
  
When Jess looked up from the picture Luke was standing next to him dressed less like Luke and more like an accountant. Jess held out his hand to shake but Luke pulled him into a hug. A very manly hug, but a hug all the same.  
  
"What's with the suit?" Jess asked when the hug was over.  
  
"You laugh and I'll make you sleep in your car," was Luke's gruff reply.  
  
"Aww, now you wouldn't do that to me, Uncle Luke, you love me too much."

Luke snorted. "Lorelai is gonna make you dress up, too, Emily and Richard are among her dinner guests."

"Her parents?"

"Yup."

Jess groaned. "They hate me. Or Rory's grandmother does anyway. Now I've never met her grandfather, but I'm sure he's heard enough from her grandmother to form a few opinions."

"When did you meet Emily?"

"The same day I got beaked."

Luke tried to hold back a laugh but failed. "Ah, yes, the beaking incident."

"Shut up, it's not that funny, and besides, Rory doesn't know about it, and I'd much rather she didn't."

"Rory doesn't know about it? How the hell did you explain the black eye?"

"I told her I got hit by a football." "Since when have you ever been known to play football?"

"I don't know. She bought it."

"Who bought what?" Rory had snuck up behind them just in time to hear Jess's last sentence. She looked up at him and entwined her fingers with his as she waited for a response.  
  
"Oh, it's nothing." Jess saw something register in her eyes, something like disappointment, but he didn't say anything. Instead he gripped her hand a little tighter and smiled. "So your grandparents are coming to dinner?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yup, and you have to change."

Jess groaned and Luke chuckled. "How the hell did I get myself into this?"

Rory just smiled in response.  
  
_There's a toddler running around, but she doesn't ask who he belongs to, his brown hair and abnormal height are enough of a give-away.  
  
Every now and then a familiar face will come up and say hello to her, tell her she looks older, and ask her why she doesn't visit more often. She's got her response all worked out. "Hi! Thank you. My job keeps me really busy." Sometimes, to mix things up, she says "do you really think so?" instead of "thank you," or "my boss is a real jerk," instead of "work keeps me really busy," but for the most part people don't approach her, and she just stands quietly at the mantel wondering why she decided to come.  
  
Her mother's greeting was as superficial as they come, a hug, a kiss on the cheek, a "hey sweeetie, how've you been?" and then a quick departure. It would have been depressing if she hadn't still been realing in shock from her impromptu meeting with Dean at the door.  
  
They had not talked in four years, not since her "worst mistake of my life don't come near me ever again" speech to him a week after the Dragonfly's test run. She knew her mother still talked to him, but she didn't think Lorelai would invite them to the same party.  
  
Without anyone noticing she silently slips out the front door and wades over to the garage. The snow makes it hard to open the doors, but she finally manages and disappears inside.  
  
This is where Lorelai has deposited all of Rory's stuff. When Luke moved in they needed more space. All of his extra belongings (what he didn't leave in the apartment, but wouldn't fit anywhere else) went into Rory's bedroom, and all of Rory's things were moved into the garage with the idea that they would winterize it and use it as a sort of apartment for Rory/ guest house, but it never happened. Rory has stopped visiting, Jess never started, and any other guests they could have live close enough to walk home at the end of the evening. There is no need.  
  
She sits down on her bed. The wood has been chewed by termites, the mattress looks about ready to die, and the surrounding boxes are full of memories destroyed by rain, snow, mice, and age. She starts to cry.  
_  
When Emily and Richard arrived it was Jess who opened the door. Lorelai was busy trying to convince Luke to put his jacket back on, if not his tie (he'd taken both off upon seeing Jess in khakis and a button up shirt) and Rory was fighting with her hair, although Jess had tried to convince her it looked fine.  
  
"Who are you?" was the first thing to pop out of Emily's mouth when she saw him.  
  
The older woman didn't really look any different from the last time Jess had seen her. She had a few wrinkles, and she didn't appear to be quite as strict with her hair coloring regimen anymore, but she looked good for a 71 year old woman.  
  
"Jess Mariano," he said sticking out his hand to shake and praying she wouldn't remember him.  
  
She ignored the hand. "Rory's punk ex-boyfriend?"  
  
"Rory's sarcastic current boyfriend." Rory herself had walked into the hall in time to respond to her grandmother. "Hi Grandma, Grandpa!"

"Rory!" Richard Gilmore had been quietly watching the whole exchange from the doorway, but at Rory's entrance he immediately enveloped her in a hug.  
  
"Rory, what are you doing here?" asked Emily.  
  
"I'm visiting my family for Christmas."

"You haven't come to visit in six years."

"Well it was about time then, wasn't it? And besides, Jess hasn't been down to Stars Hollow in awhile either, so we thought we'd come together." She shot her grandmother a brilliant smile. "Come on in."

They entered the living room just as Lorelai and Luke were descending. Luke was back in the jacket and grumbling under his breath, but when he spotted his mother-in-law he stopped. The woman still terrified him after 12 years.  
  
"Hey Mom, Dad, I see you've met Jess," said Lorelai as she hugged her father. Her relationship with her parents had gotten increasingly better over ten years, especially after she married Luke, and she had reached a point where time with them was no longer a chore, fights were rare, and not every gift had to be exchanged for something more practical (and/ or fun).  
  
"Yes, we've met Jess," Emily muttered and Lorelai smiled.  
  
"Good." The six stood in silence for a few moments.  
  
"Are we the first ones here?" Emily asked sounding somewhere between annoyed and bored.  
  
"Oh, yeah, everyone else should be arriving soon."  
  
"Who else is coming, Mom? You didn't say," Rory asked. She sat down on the dark blue couch, smoothing out her skirt. The fight with her hair had clearly been resolved as it looked beautiful cascading down her back in loose curls. Her eyes matched her pale blue blouse perfectly and her skirt (white with blue polka-dots) flattered her long legs beautifully.  
  
"Sookie, Jackson, Davey, Anne, Kirk, Lulu, and Theodore."  
  
Rory knew Sookie, Jackson, Davey, Kirk, and Lulu, but Anne and Theodore were mysteries to her.  
  
"Theodore, that's Kirk and Lulu's kid, right?" Jess asked from beside her.  
  
"How did you know that?" Rory asked.  
  
"I got a birth announcement in the mail about three years ago. Besides, didn't they name you godfather, Luke?" Rory looked over at Luke standing beside her grandfather, shifting uncomfortably.  
  
"Maybe," he muttered.  
  
"Yes," Lorelai said at the same time.  
  
Richard laughed. He had always liked Luke, always, and he couldn't have been prouder of Lorelai when she finally married him.  
  
"I don't know Anne or Davey, though," said Jess.  
  
"They're Sookie and Jackson's kids. Terror's the both of them, but they're sweet," Lorelai said.  
  
"Yeah, sticky sweet," Luke added. "They can't enter the house without bringing a trail of jam, candy, and other assorted goo with them." Just then the doorbell rang. Lorelai shushed Luke and ran to answer it.  
  
_From the garage she hears people start to leave. it's just past one AM and she's fallen asleep on her old bed, her face stiff from tears and her knees pulled up to her chest.  
__  
She digs through her purse to find her cell phone and calls a Connecticut cab company who's number she still remembers. The cab arrives at 1:45. All the lights are out in the house now, her broken gift tucked under the tree to be opened in the morning. There's no card attached, but even with the trinket in pieces her mother will know who it's from.  
  
She climbs slowly into the backseat and waits for the lights of the city to come back into view._


	2. Fading

A/N: Dedicated to...umm...everyone! But especially to Lee for keeping me entertained at 12 AM...and to the rest of the lit thread.

Italics are, once again, flashbacks.

* * *

Lorelai returned with Kirk, Lulu, and a shy little boy trailing behind.

Kirk looked different to Jess, older, more mature, but still Kirk-like. The little boy, Theodore, was the spitting image of him, right down to the khakis and buttoned up pale yellow shirt. Jess had never met Lulu, so he didn't have much to compare, but he'd heard a lot about her from Luke (still not completely comfortable discussing his own life, so choosing instead to focus on Kirk's). It wasn't until she started talking that Jess understood why Luke thought she and Kirk were so perfect for each other. She was giggly, chatty, excitable, and sickeningly sweet from the start.

After about five minutes of listening to her chatter Jess groaned and buried his face in Rory's shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked with a concerned look in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I've just got a bit of a headache." He sat up. "I think I'm gonna go for a walk."

"Okay. You want me to come?"

He stood up. "No, you stay with your mom. I'll be back in a little while."

"K."

Jess grabbed his coat off the hook by the front door and slipped outside, passing Sookie and Jackson in the snow and leaving Rory to gaze after him.

_The TV next door is blaring, as is the stereo of the near-deaf guy downstairs. He can hardly hear himself think. Weren't people supposed to go away for Christmas?_

_The little red light on his answering machine is blinking, but he doesn't want to listen to the message. It'll just be his mother, begging him to come to dinner. While he loves his grandmother's cooking he doesn't think he can take another night of his mother's constant questioning. "Are you seeing anyone?" "How'd that blind date go?" "Are you gay and just afraid to tell me?"_

_He wonders why Christmas is such a family holiday when all family does is cause problems._

Emily was being unbearable, truly unbearable. Ever since Jess had slipped out the door half an hour earlier she had been shooting Rory worried glances.

He'd been gone 30 minutes, it wasn't like he'd run out on her again. Right?

"I'm gonna go see if I can find Jess. If he's not feeling well he probably shouldn't be out in the cold," she said as she nearly ran out the door.

She could almost hear the start of Emily's disapproving comments as it shut behind her.

The walk to the diner wasn't long, but the cold and the fresh snow made it difficult. When she reached it she was surprised to find Jess just sitting outside in the cold.

"How have you not turned into a popsicle?" she asked as she approached him.

"Well, it helps that I'm not made of sugar and artificial flavoring."

"Shut up," she said sitting down next to him, "you know what I mean."

"I don't know, the cold doesn't bother me."

"It's that cold heart of yours," she jokes leaning into him.

He chuckles and wraps an arm around her.

_He calls at about ten. The neighbors have finally turned down the volume and he can actually hear himself think. _

_The constant fear is that a Gilmore will pick up. It has happened before, an out-of-breath Lorelai pissed that she had to do a laundry pile dive to find the phone only to find a dial-tone. It's not that he's afraid, no, he just wants to save her the trouble of yelling at him. At least, that's what he tells himself._

_But this time it's Luke who picks up. There's a smile in his voice, the gruff tone has all but disappeared since he got the girl. It makes Jess happy to know that Luke's happy, but he can't shake the regret that builds up like bile in his throat when they talk._

_He could have had the girl._

_He could have been this happy._

_He could have worked it out._

_And then a little voice inside his head reminds him that he didn't._

"So, what's wrong?" Rory asked after a minute.

"Nothing, it's just," he paused, "is Lulu always so...Lulu?"

Rory smiled, "as far as I know, but then, I haven't seen her in six years."

"Have you seen anyone in the past six years?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I mean, sometimes Mom attempts a visit, but they always end with us fighting...unless she drags Luke along, in which case we don't fight, but things get really tense and they leave before dinner. I see Lane a lot, though, and Paris."

"Things have certainly changed since the last time we were here."

Rory nodded. "Yup."

"You ready to head back?" he asks.

"If we don't my mom is sure to send out a search party. Missing dinner is a crime punishable by death in the Gilmore household. Or it used to be, anyway." She frowned.

"I'm sure it still is," he told her as he helped her up. "Let's go."

Holding hands they started off towards the house.

_"How've you been?" Luke asks him._

_"I'm alive," he replies._

_Something in Luke's voice fades. "Well, that's good, I guess."_

_They are silent for a moment, and he turns to look at the microwave where his spaghetti is reheating. "How was the famous dinner?"_

_"Good as always, Sookie cooked for twice the number of people that actually came, but I'm sure Lorelai won't have any trouble devouring the left-overs. Did you go to your mom's?"_

_Jess winces as he responds in the affirmative. He doesn't want Luke to think he's sitting home alone on Christmas Eve, even if he is._

_"That's good."_

_"Yeah."_

_The conversation ends soon afterward. After he hangs up Jess walks over to the microwave and pulls out the warm bowl. He grabs a coke out of the fridge (he gave up drinking when he realized the destructive power it held), and sits down in front of the TV, flipping to a station playing mindless Christmas-themed cartoons._

"There you are, we were about to start without you," Lorelai said as they walked in the front door.

"No you weren't," Rory replied, "you were about to come and get us." She smiled at her mother.

They followed Lorelai into the living room where someone had set up a bunch of card tables.

"--And the second egg says 'I've never seen a talking egg.'"

Even Emily laughed at Jackson's joke, though it was clear that she didn't find it all that funny. They took their seats.

"I don't know if I can eat this, Sook," Lorelai said, "I think this souffle even tops last years."

Sookie gasped. "You do eat cheese, right Jess?"

He laughed. "Yes, I eat cheese."

"Oh, good, 'cause I couldn't remember, and I was really worried about it, so I made an extra souffle that didn't have any cheese, but then Anne started screaming and Davey knocked over a cup and the soffle kind of deflated, so I was really worried that you wouldn't get any souffle, but you can eat the souffle, so that's good." She took a deep breath and everyone laughed (genuinely this time).

As everyone dug into the food Jess thought back to his second night in Stars Hollow and the meal (not unlike this one) that he missed. He wondered where he'd be right now if he hadn't skipped out on his first chance at an original Sookie meal. He grabbed Rory's hand under the table.

Sitting next to Jess Emily's disapproving glances weren't so bad, squeezing his hand helped her forget that six years had gone by and remember that she was finally home.

_As he climbs into bed that night he can't shake the feeling that something needs to change, and more importantly, that there's nothing he can do about it._

_From his bed he can see out the window. Snow has begun to fall and is softly coating his fire-escape. In the moment before he falls asleep he allows himself to think of her._

* * *

I know this is a really short chapter, but once the plot gets going they'll be longer. I just wanted to get some more up.

Review, please.


	3. Vacuum sealed regrets

**Christmas Unwrapped**

**Chapter three: Vacuum Sealed Regrets**

When dinner was over Rory and, by extension, Jess volunteered to do the dishes while the "adults" kicked back in the living room and the "kids" fell asleep on the floor. Rory watched as Jess visibly deflated the second they were left alone.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked as she wrapped his arms around him from behind.

"I'm fine," he said, "just tired." As if on cue he yawned. "Long day."

"Well, think about it this day," she said, "if you were J Lo today would have been a piece of cake."

"I guess it's a good thing I'm not J Lo, then."

"I've gotta say, I much prefer you this way."

He laughed. "I hope so." He gave her a quick kiss and then turned to the sink.

They worked on the dishes in silence for awhile, developing a rhythm of washing, rinsing, drying and stacking.

"Hey, Jess?" Rory asked after a minute.

"Hmm?"

She was silent for a moment and he looked up. Finally she said, "I don't want us to be the way we used to be."

He didn't say anything.

"I don't want us keeping secrets and not communicating." Her voice had started out as a near whisper, but was growing steadily in volume and strength. "You're already shutting yourself off. I can't be in a relationship with you if you're going to do this to me again."

"You...what?"

"You won't talk to me! You haven't changed at all."

He stared at her in shock.

"How am I supposed to believe that you won't run out on my again if you won't even tell me what's wrong?"

He opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off before he could.

"And don't say that you're fine, because I know you're not. You're sick or you're stressed or something, but you are not fine!"

Before she could say any more he spoke, not loud or frantic but calmly and firmly. "Don't say I never opened up to you, because I did. Do you think that I would have gone so crazy over anyone else, Rory? I wouldn't have. I thought that I could trust you and that I could talk to you, but the second I tried to you stomped all over me." He paused to breath and she stared at him in shock. "Don't try to tell me that I messed up, I already know that, but how about taking some responsibility for yourself."

Without waiting for a response Jess turned and walked out the front door. Without giving one Rory left from the kitchen.

----

From the living room Lorelai, Luke, and Emily had heard the entire thing (Richard was snoring, and Kirk, Lulu, Sookie and Jackson had left with their sleeping children).

As soon as the second door had slammed Emily opened her mouth to say something, but before she could Lorelai spoke.

"Don't, Mom."

"What?"

"Don't make a snide comment about Jess when you've met him once, on a bad day, when he was 17."

"You don't like him any more than I do, Lorelai," Emily said.

"I don't know him any better than you do, Mom. What I do know is that my daughter called me this morning and really talked to me for the first time in ten years, and Jess was the reason." Lorelai stood as she spoke, trying not to yell, but barely holding back.

"It's your own fault," Emily said, standing as well. "You let her drift away, and took her from the rest of us in the process."

"I let her drift away? You're the one who took her to Europe for a summer!"

Luke was watching silently as they fought. Emily's own regrets were clear in her words, but Lorelai was too busy fighting back to take notice.

"Richard!" Emily shouted, still glaring at Lorelai.

He jolted out of his nap mid-snore to the sight of his wife and daughter standing above him fuming. "Yes, Emily?" he asked.

"We're leaving," she said. "Say good bye." Without waiting for him she stormed out the door to the car.

"Well," Richard said, still half asleep. "I guess we're leaving." He shook Luke's hand. "Thank you for having us, Lorelai. Dinner was wonderful. Merry Christmas." He left in his usual cheerful mood.

"I'm going to bed," Lorelai said almost stomping up the stairs.

Luke sat, slightly dazed on the couch.

-------

Jess found the key to the diner in its usual hiding spot and slipped inside. All the lights were out, but the two years he had lived there had stuck with him and he was able to navigate his way up the stairs and into the apartment.

-------

Rory knocked lightly on the door and attempted a smile when it was opened. "Hey, I know Lane's not here, but do you think I could crash in her room?" she asked a sleepy and somewhat intoxicated Brian.

"Uh, sure." She stepped inside. "What's your name again?" he slurred.

"Rory."

"Right."

She slipped down the hall and into Lane's room without another word.

The next morning was bright and cold. Jess woke up to typical diner sounds, something that he hadn't heard in years, and leaned back against his pillow with a sigh. This was not how he had imagined this trip going.

-------

Rory woke up to Zach pounding on the bathroom door and Brian screaming. She leaned back against her pillow with a sigh. This was not how she had imagined this trip going.


	4. Never Let Go

**Christmas Wrapping chapter 4  
**_Never Let Go_

Rory took the scenic route home that morning, managing to avoid the diner, the bridge, the gazebo, the bookstore and any other place she thought she might run into Jess. It seemed that despite the years that had passed since her last visit to Stars Hollow she could still remember her way around.

As she walked she thought about everything that had happened in the two days prior. Was it really only a couple nights ago that she had been hurling a snowball at Jess's shoulder on a sidewalk in Manhattan? She kicked at a pile of dusty white snow and pulled her coat tighter around herself. It seemed like in one night she had erased ten years.

The porch of her childhood home was familiar, and she considered sitting down on the old wicker sofa for a few minutes before going inside, but a particularly cold breeze convinced her otherwise, and she slipped inside.

The house was fairly quiet (someone--Luke--was snoring upstairs), but in the most comfortable way possible. The living room had taken on the piney smell of the Christmas tree in its corner, and as she settled down on the couch she thought about the post-holiday depression that tended to hit once all the gifts had been unwrapped and all the food had been consumed. Was that the cause of her fight with Jess? She didn't know. All she knew was that she hadn't intended for things to go so poorly.

She drifted off into a restless sleep, clutching a stray piece of wrapping paper.

-------

Luke dragged a semi-concious Jess out of bed around eight o'clock that morning to work.

After Patty and Babbette had finished stage-whispering about him over breakfast he tried to make an escape, but Luke caught him in his attempt and dragged him over to Taylor's table to take his order.

"Well, good morning, Jess," Taylor said in an all too cheerful mood.

Jess grunted.

"Nice to see you. It's been years."

Jess grunted again.

"What brings you back to Stars Hollow?"

Jess just shot him a look...his very best "don't mess with me" look.

"Right, so...I'll have the pancakes and...how is the coffee this morning?" Before Jess could grunt again Taylor said, "nevermind, I'll just have orange juice to drink."

Jess nodded and turned away.

-------

"Rory? You home?"

Rory stirred in her sleep and made a muffled grunting noise.

"Rory?"

Pulling herself from slumber Rory managed to open her mouth enough to form actual words. "Living Room!" she called to her mother.

"Hey, sweetie? You okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied as she sat up, "I just didn't sleep well last night."

Lorelai nodded. "Where'd you go?"

"Lane's place...she wasn't there, but Brian let me crash in her bedroom."

"Ah."

Neither of them mentioned Jess, or the fight the night before. Lorelai knew that Rory was not ready to talk about it. "So...you want to go get some lunch with me? I was thinking we could go to Al's...haven't been there in a while."

Rory smiled. "Sure. Let's go."

-------

"Rory! I didn't know you were visiting!" Miss Patty exclaimed as they passed the dance studio.

"It was a last minute trip," she replied, tugging her coat around her shoulders a little tighter. "I didn't know I would be here until Christmas morning."

"Oh, well isn't that a nice surprise." The Gilmore girls lost Patty's interest as a two three-year-olds got into a fight. "Susie, Margie! Is that any way to behave? Susie, give Margie back her tutu!"

"Just your average day in Stars Hollow," Lorelai said, wrapping her arm around Rory's shoulders as they continued down the street. After a few minutes in silence she asked _the_ question. "So...what was all that about last night?"

Rory exhaled and watched the air rise in a white cloud in front of her...it reminded her of Jess, standing there the night of the dance marathon, telling her he had something he 'had to do.' Instead of shying away from the question she confronted it. "I don't want to let our relationship die the way it did the last time. I can't put myself through that kind of pain again."

Lorelai nodded. "Well...you realize that by storming out you can't actually fix anything, right?"

"Yes, and...I didn't want to. I couldn't help myself. Everything he was saying was true...he isn't 100 responsible for everything that happened in the past, I have to take some of the blame for it. I just...don't really know how."

"Are you sure you want to go to Al's? We could go to Luke's...you two could talk."

Rory shook her head. "Not yet." She put her head down. A moment later she added, "maybe later?"

"Maybe later."

-------

Halfway (well, not halfway, they were still in 2003, but it had been almost an hour) through a detailed summary of the past ten years in Stars Hollow (as told by Babette) Jess glanced out the diner's large window. He had not been paying much attention, and he found himself even more distracted when he saw the Gilmores walking past on the opposite side of the street.

They didn't seem to be talking, just walking in comfortable silence. While their little vacation didn't seem to be going very well, Jess was glad Rory had gotten something out of it. He smiled slightly and turned back to Babette who had stopped talking and was staring at him.

"You're still hung up on her!" she exclaimed.

"Don't know what you're talking about," he said with a smirk. "I should really go check on your order." He hurried to the safety of the kitchen as quickly as possible. By dinner all of Stars Hollow would know that Jess Mariano had a thing for Rory Gilmore...again.

-------

"I'll go get the movie," Lorelai said as they left Al's.

"And I'll get the junk food."

It didn't matter that they had gone through half of Al's menu in the past hour, Lorelai and Rory were planning a movie night, and no Gilmore Movie Night was complete without redvines and cookie dough.

"Meet you at the house?"

"Deal."

They headed in opposite directions, Lorelai aiming for Stars Hollow Video, and Rory for Doose's market. It had not occured to her that she would have to pass the diner to get there.

She tried to rush past, keeping her eyes focused on the frozen cement at her feet.

"Rory!"

She stopped and turned lifting her eyes to see his face, slightly pink from the cold. His eyes were warm, though.

"Hey..."

"Hey..." They stood there for a moment, just staring at each other in the afternoon sun. "Your mom home?" he finally asked.

"She's picking out a movie...I'm getting supplies."

He nodded slowly. "Movie night?"

"Yup." She took a cautious step closer to him. They were still a good five feet apart, but she felt instantly warmer. "You hear the rumors?" she asked.

"Rumors?"

"Yeah...they're saying the local hoodlum's fallen for the town princess..." She blushed a little at her own words, but didn't let it bother her. "You think it's true?"

It was his turn to step closer. His legs weren't much longer, but they were enough to bridge another couple of feet. "I think it's possible."

"Huh."

"Huh."

"Jess..."

"Rory..."

They spoke at the same time, and then let out slight chuckles. "You first," Rory said.

"I...I wanted to tell you something."

"Yeah?" she looked at him expectantly...waiting for an apology.

"I...that black eye? You remember the black eye I got back in high school?"

She nodded slowly, thinking back. That was the weekend he first met Emily Gilmore...how could she forget?

"I didn't get it from a football...or from Dean...or from anyone."

She had no clue what was going on, what he was trying to tell her.

"I got beaked by the swan down by Larson's Dock."

Suddenly realization dawned on her. She knew exactly what he was doing. Before he could continue she had closed the gap between them and pressed her lips to his.

He responded to the kiss almost instantly, wrapping his arms around the small of her back and nearly lifting hre off the ground to gain better access to her lips. As they pulled away she brushed her nose lightly against his and smiled up at him.

"You were right...that is embarrassing."

He smiled. "I told you it was."

She kissed him again. "I have to go," she finally said.

He latched onto the sleeve of her jacket, holding her to him. "Don't go."

"I don't want to."

He pulled her a little closer. "Then don't."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Come with me. I just need to make a quick stop at Doose's and then we can head back to the house for a night of movies and junk food."

He sighed, and conceded, unwilling to let go of her again. "Okay."

Adjusting their arms so that they could safely walk down the street they headed towards Doose's, never letting go.

-------

To be continued soon...


End file.
